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Question

grouping/zones for different use cases

  • June 11, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 17 views

I recently bought several speakers, including the Arc ultra, sub 4, and 2 era 300s. I have those working together in a group for my home theatre, but I would also be able to play music from my phone, and exclude the arc. Is it possible to have a tv setup, and a separate music setup?

2 replies

Stanley_4
  • Grand Maestro
  • June 12, 2026

You can, but not have a Home Theater Room act that way. Once bound into the HT Room (this is NOT a Group) they work as one, if you separate them into two Rooms you can play the two Rooms independently.

They won't Group (different than a HT Room) well for TV use as there will be a delay but for music they Group perfectly.

Many long and repetitive topics on the "why" if you care to understand why it is this way.

Added the comma.


Airgetlam
  • June 12, 2026

Ah, I would have put a comma between ‘can’, and ‘but’. It’s hard to read otherwise. 
 

Basically, Sonos speakers are part of one ‘room’ at a time. If you play music on the Arc’s room, you’ll get some sound out of the surrounds (dependent on whether you choose ‘Ambient’ or ‘Full’ in the room settings for the surrounds. And you can, in the same place, mess with the relative volume between te Arc and the surrounds.

The nature of the connection between the three devices makes it challenging to easily change. It can be done with a few button presses, but as stated, takes time each way. Mostly due to ‘state’ changes, and switching of connection methods.

As ​@Stanley_4 states, there are lots and lots of threads around this.